The Louisiana Audubon Golf Trail

The Audubon Golf Trail is a collection of nine outstanding golf courses that span the unique Bayou State. These courses are connected by a series of highways roads filled with Louisiana sights to see and things to do, and spicy food to eat from gumbo to seafood. The Trail gets its name from artist John James Audubon, the famed painter of birds and natural and wild animals and plants.

Some courses are:

•  Carter Plantation, Springfield

•  Tamahka Trails/Paragon Casino, Marksville

•  TPC of Louisiana, New Orleans

•  5. OakWing Golf Club -- Alexandria

Last first. OakWing is an expanded version of a perfunctory nine-hole track at England Air Force Base of Alexandria. One of the plus factors is the Parc England Hotel, located near the golf course.

The course, with history from being on a former military installation, and the most affordable green fees on the Audubon Golf Trail, make it a fine choice to pick.

The TPC in New Orleans The Big Easy - The Crescent City. New Orleans! Costing $30 million to build, the course helps with the convention atmosphere of one of he top five convention picks in the nation. . The facility, has a classic clubhouse, huge practice facility and the service at all the facilities are excellent. There is only about 20 – 30 feet of elevation change throughout this 230-acre track. The bunkers are big and the greens average a smallish 5,000 square feet in size, so finding the targets here can be pin-point accuracy. Most of the par-4s and par-5s in the first two-thirds of the course sport bunkers left of fairways, with the final three holes bunkered right.

Tamahka Trails Golf Club

This Steve Smyers' design is part of the Paragon Casino Resort. Both enterprises are developments of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana

The golf course here has more huge bunkers most golfers want to play. Some fairway bunkers are well over 150 feet long and 50 feet across, with the only means of escape a short sideways plop shot back to the fairway

Tamahka Trails is a unique course , with nice touches such as chainsaw-carved sculptures – including a realistic-looking alligator and turtle. The 230-acre course

will keep your appreciation for wildlife active.

Carter Plantation

Named after a once-operating plantation that originated in 1856, this new 750-acre development boasts an excellent golf course designed by PGA Tour player and native Louisianan, David Toms, and architect Glenn Hickey.

The layout is mature and exceedingly playable, despite its opening in late April 2004, mere weeks before our arrival. The fairways wide, and the hazards are within view in most instances.

A unique feature –– are the “moustaches” on the lips of some bunkers. On one of the lips the grass is allowed to grow long and is then browned by a herbicide

When the ball goes off the fairway it will usually be in some “god-forsaken-substance” that clings to the ball and is locally known as “Louisiana mud.”

There are some fine dining and lodging facilities nearby.

There are six member courses: Olde Oaks in Shreveport; Cypress Bend near Many; Gray Plantation in Lake Charles; Tamahka Trails in Marksville; The Island in Plaquemine and The Bluffs on Thompson Creek in St. Francisville, Oakwing of Alexandria, and New Orleans TPC. In addition to the member facilities, the Trail includes affiliate courses, including: Money Hill in Abita Springs, Calvert Crossing in Calhoun, Emerald Hills in Florien, Pelican Point in Gonzales, Acadian Hills in Lafayette, Chenault Golf Course in Monroe, Frenchman's Bend in Monroe, Monroe Muni, Selmanfield Golf Course in Monroe, Bayou Oaks Golf Course at City Park in New Orleans, and Lakewood Country Club in New Orleans.

All of the courses on the Trail are members of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf Courses, a program dedicated to protecting the environment and preserving the natural heritage of the game of golf. Even though the wildlife is protected, it is ok to shoot birdies on any course.   Happy Traveling.